Northern Ireland was the only part of the UK not to have its version of BBC Two in High Definition on satellite. That’s about to change.
Sky and Freesat will add BBC Two NI HD on Thursday 5th January 2023. For viewers in Northern Ireland, this means BBC Two on channel 102 will switch from SD to the HD version, matching the situation in the rest of the UK.
Elsewhere in the UK, BBC Two NI HD will appear among the national and regional variants of BBC channels in the 950-980 channel range on both platforms.
BBC Two Northern Ireland HD is also unique as it’s the first time an HD channel has gone live using Sky’s transponder capacity on satellite. The launch follows a lengthy test period of the new set-up.
Until now, the BBC has utilised its own satellite capacity for the various nations and regions services. But with the BBC now planning to fully regionalise its HD services, extra capacity is needed. The BBC will commence HD switchover of its remaining SD-only services later in January.
Republic of Ireland
As with other BBC channels on Sky in the Republic, a stripped back version of BBC Two NI HD without red button is also going to be available.
BBC Two NI HD will appear on channel 142. The SD version will be found on channel 844. The current BBC Two HD service on Sky Ireland channel 347 will close.
Manual Tuning Parameters
BBC satellite frequencies for Sky boxes